Letter: Pat Stryker first and foremost a founder of Bohemian Foundation

Nov. 11, 2013

I am sure that Pat Stryker is tired of hearing herself referred to in The Coloradoan as “Billionaire Pat Stryker” or “Philanthropist Billionaire Pat Stryker.” Why not just say, “Pat Stryker, founder of The Bohemian Foundation”? Why always start with “billionaire”?

We all know, or should know, that Stryker and her brother inherited a good bit of money from their father, who invented a hospital bed that has made many patients more comfortable.

So why introduce her, in every story, as “billionaire,” as if that’s her first name? Do you do that when speaking of Steve Jobs? Or Bill Gates? Or the guys who own the Rockies? Or whoever owns the Broncos? Do you always preface their names with “billionaire”? Colorado has more than a few rich people, most of whom do nothing like the good that Stryker and her foundation do.

Give her some respect, OK? Refer to her by her real name and mention her foundation, and forget the “billionaire” preface. Yes, she’s rich, but so are lots of others who do much less good for Fort Collins or anybody else. Think of the Koch brothers, who plow untold millions into backing right-wing candidates and causes. Do you always identify them as “billionaires”? Sometimes, yes, but not always.